Space Station Faces Cosmic Traffic Jam

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It's shaping up to be a busy spring and summer on the
International Space Station, where a slew of spacecraft, both
government-owned and private, are due to visit the outpost.

The space agency of Japan announced Wednesday (March 21) that it
would launch its third robotic cargo freighter to the station
July 21. The vehicle, called the H-II Transfer Vehicle Kounotori
3 (HTV3), is due to lift off from Japan's Tanegashima Space
Center, bearing food, supplies and scientific experiments to the
orbiting laboratory.

A new crew of two Russians and an American are due to lift off in
a Russian Soyuz capsule from Kazakhstan on May 15. They will be
replacing three current station crewmembers, half of the
station's full six-person crew, who are slated to return April
30.

That same day is also slated to see the first launch
of the SpaceX Dragon capsule to the space station. This
unmanned spacecraft is set to become the first commercial vehicle
to visit the orbiting laboratory, under a NASA program aimed at
stimulating the development of private craft to ferry cargo to
the outpost in the wake of the space shuttle retirement.

Dragon is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and dock at the station May 3.
If that flight goes well, another Dragon mission could follow in
August.

The commercial firm Orbital Sciences is also planning to launch
its robotic Cygnus capsule to the space station Sept. 1, and
berth it there Sept. 6.

As if that weren't busy enough, the rotating crew of six aboard
the station will have their hands full with scientific research
and space station maintenance, including two spacewalks (EVAs, or
extravehicular activities) planned for the summer or fall.

"That's a whole lot of work the crew has to do to do the
berthings the dockings and the EVAs," Suffredini said. "In
addition we will allocate 35 hours per week to research."

Another crew exchange is also due to take place in July, with an
American astronaut, a Japanese spaceflyer and a Russian cosmonaut
lifting off from Kazakhstan July 15, and another crew of three
due to come home in September.

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